A fire takes their home, taking what little they had and ending the only life they’ve known. But during the fire, they save the life of an old Acolyte of Talan who gives them one chance to change their lives.

One chance to gain entry into one of the great Razor Schools of Resa.

The School of Faith.

Beyond its hallowed gates, lie wonders and secrets they’ve never imagined, as magic pulses all around them. They are desperate to join the friends they meet there, but have only one month to earn entry.

As Roan excels, Kay struggles, and it becomes clear they won’t both pass the test.

They promised one another they would stay together, but is Kay willing to let Roan leave the life he was meant to have?

Rising up from the center of the space was an enormous statue, dwarfing the students standing in silent veneration. It depicted a powerful warrior clad in a swirling cloak of carved marble. In his hands was a massive sword, the tip of which was driven into the obsidian.
Roan stared at the immense blade, unable to avert his eyes. The weapon was not carved from white stone like the statue that wielded it. It was steel. A real blade, though four times the height of a tall man.
Kay spoke in a hushed whisper. “That sword… is that?” she stammered.
Erik nodded. “The sword of Baheyer himself.”
Roan stared at a piece of legend made real. He had always believed the stories, the tales of great Aedan and the First Ascended, but here was proof. The First Ascended had gained the strength of their fallen brothers and sisters, and, in doing so, had grown not only in power, but stature.
The weapons of the First Ascended, as much a part of them as their own flesh, had grown with them, spirits of the wielder merging with the wielded into something powerful enough to turn back the darkness.
That was Roan’s favorite part of the legend, and, as a child, he imagined what such blades would look like. Never had he expected to stand before one.
In contrast to the smooth perfection of the statue itself, the sword was worn, making it all the more real. The blade itself was pitted and chipped, the edge ragged where it had been broken on the backs of the Ruins. This was no showpiece, but a weapon wielded for the very salvation of humanity by the greatest the world had ever seen—or would ever see.
The buzzing hum filled the air. Roan closed his eyes, trying to tune it out, but this only made it worse. It echoed in his skull.
There was a pull, a tugging sensation that drew him toward the sword. Before he realized what he was doing, Roan moved to stand before the blade.

Mark Gelineau and Joe King are releasing a novella a month. Every month. Each of them takes place in the same fantasy world, but there are four different series, each with different characters and story types.

Mark and Joe are telling the same type of stories that they have always loved, just smaller. Epic, only shorter.

Click on the book cover to Look Inside the book on Amazon and read an excerpt.

A Reaper of Stone [Elinor 1] [1]

A classic, cavalier story.

A Lady is dead. Her noble line ended. And the King’s Reaper has come to reclaim her land and her home. In the marches of Aedaron, only one thing is for certain. All keeps of the old world must fall.

Elinor struggles to find her place in the new world. She once dreamed of great things. Of becoming a hero in the ways of the old world. But now she is a Reaper. And her duty is clear. Destroy the old. Herald the new.

Rend The Dark [Ferran 1] [2]

A dark fantasy/horror.

[H]e saw one of the crowd looked different now. Oily black shadows like living tar flowed over his body in the unmistakable stain of the Dark. Ferran locked eyes with the creature that had disguised itself as a man. “No more hiding,” he said and charged.

The great Ruins are gone. The titans. The behemoths. All banished to the Dark and nearly forgotten. But the cunning ones, the patient ones remain. They hide not in the cracks of the earth or in the shadows of the world. But inside us. Wearing our skin. Waiting. Watching.

Once haunted by visions of the world beyond, Ferran now wields that power to hunt the very monsters that he once feared. He is not alone. Others bear the same terrible burden. But Hunter or hunted, it makes no difference. Eventually, everything returns to the Dark.

Mark Gelineau and Joe King have been writing and telling stories together for the last 25 years.

They share a love for the classic fantasy tales of their childhood.

Their Echoes of the Ascended series brings those old epic characters and worlds to new life.

Ever since the day he discovered his grandfather's stacks of pulps,comics, and sci-fi and fantasy novels, Mark was fascinated. When he saw his first movie, Star Wars, he was hooked.

Stories of adventure and far off worlds thrilled him then and inspire him now. It was this passion for imaginative storytelling that led him to writing and education. In addition to his own writing work, Mark has taught middle school English for the last thirteen years, and is excited to share his stories with his young son, Bryce.

Joe spent most of his childhood doing what he loved most - building things with his friends. He built friendships, stories, worlds, games, imagination, and everything in between.

Joe believes in the power of stories, dreams, family, friendship, and getting your ass kicked every once in a while.

More than anything, he wants to tell a good story, and, for him, Gelineau & King is the constant reminder that it's never too late to start building the things you love.